New York woman found dead in Jamaica days before return home

Desiree Gibbon, 26, from Queens was found with her throat slashed on a roadside in Anchovy, Jamaica. Police have made no arrests.

New Yorker (26) found slain in Anchovy days before scheduled flight home

Desiree Gibbon, a 26-year-old woman from Queens, New York, was found dead on the side of a road in the Jamaican town of Anchovy on a Saturday morning, abcnews.com reports. Her throat had been slashed. She was due to fly back to New York just days later, on Thursday, according to her mother and aunt.

Gibbon had travelled to Jamaica in October to earn money for school through a resort job, her aunt Peggy Brunner told ABC News. Her grandmother owns a hotel on the island. Brunner described her niece as someone who embraced life fully. "She lived life to the fullest. She traveled everywhere," Brunner said. "She loved learning about different cultures. Everybody loved her."

Her mother, Andrea Gibbon, called Desiree "beautiful," "selfless" and a "free spirit" who had a passion for travel and connecting with people. "More than anything in life I think she loved traveling and meeting new people and listening to what their stories are," Andrea Gibbon said. The young woman had been working as a model and was hoping to build a career in documentary film-making, her mother added.

Andrea Gibbon said she last spoke to her daughter around Thanksgiving, at which point she seemed very happy. The family noted that Desiree was typically cautious and stayed in tourist-populated areas. "She had tremendous self awareness," Andrea Gibbon said. "She never ventured out by herself." Her body was found in the countryside, her mother said.

"I'm numb ... devastated ... I'm lost," Andrea Gibbon said of learning about her daughter's death.

Desiree's two younger sisters, aged 18 and 14, are also mourning her death. Brunner said one sister described the week as a nightmare she hoped to wake up from.

WABC-TV in New York reported late Thursday that police had not made any arrests in connection with the killing.

Source: Google News JM — Crime